Centre for Digitalisation, AI and Society
The scale and scope of digitalisation and use of AI in public life in India are unmatched in the world, especially in large public service applications. The use of such technologies are not only restricted to the Government but are growing rapidly in the private sector as well. This provides us with a unique opportunity to generate new interdisciplinary research questions around their efficacy, and the considerations for safe, secure and ethical design and deployment of such technologies.
While the potential for such digitalisation and AI applications for public good is unquestionable, they do raise some serious social, ethical and legal questions whose mitigation and compliance with regulation pose new challenges. In fact, such systems have been difficult to operationalise anywhere in the world. Many attempts at building large public services like national identity systems, health registries, national population and voter registries, public credit registries, income and tax registries etc. have often been questioned on fairness, privacy and other ethical grounds. The concerns have invariably been related to the need for protective safeguards when large data integration projects are contemplated, and acknowledgment of the bias, exclusion, discrimination, privacy and security problems that these could create. In some situations they have even had to be abandoned altogether as they were unable to deal with these risks.
This provides a unique opportunity for Ashoka University – with its multidisciplinary focus – to lead the enquiry around these questions. Specifically, the Centre for Digitalisation, AI and Society at Ashoka proposes to research and identify the key considerations for thinking about such systems, and risk mitigation strategies for deployment of such digital systems in public life.
Vision
Our goal is to build a hub for interdisciplinary research, problem-solving and advocacy that focuses on issues relating to privacy, fairness, trust and efficiency arising from the digitalisation of large-scale public-service applications and the widespread use of artificial intelligence and big data analytics in India.
By doing this, we hope to develop the Ashoka ecosystem into a catalyst for change in India’s digital landscape.
Mission
- To support both early-career and senior academics committed to interdisciplinary approaches to studying the digitalisation of public-service applications through resident/non-resident fellowships, research grants, mentorship and other forms of assistance.
- To create a platform for interdisciplinary partnerships from within the Ashoka ecosystem (departments in STEM as well as in the humanities, social sciences, other Centers) by facilitating collaborative projects, workshops, conferences and other activities.
- To design feasible and trustworthy systems for large public-service applications through partnerships, workshops, and consultations with practitioners from government and industry.
- To hold recurring interactions with policymakers at the central and state levels, and actively advocate for wide recognition of the issues identified by research efforts and for the comprehensive adoption of the standards for trustworthiness developed by affiliated researchers.
- To participate in public discourse through editorials and media interactions, and generate greater consciousness around the legal, social and ethical complexities created by particular uses of technology in large public-facing applications.
- To collaborate with other civil society and research organisations in India and abroad and become a global touchpoint for expertise on India’s digitalisation story.
- To train students to critically think about these issues so that they may become prepared to participate in and shape the digitalisation and AI application endeavours while being mindful of the ethical implications.
Objectives
- Develop a greater understanding of the technical, legal, economic, social and ethical complexities created by particular uses of technology in large public-facing applications.
- Produce effective frameworks and guiding principles for the design of efficient, safe and trustworthy systems for large public-service applications through research, partnerships, workshops, and consultations with academicians and practitioners from governments and industry.
- Support well-identified research problems to study issues related to digitalisation and society from multidisciplinary perspectives. Hold recurring interactions with policymakers, governments and civil society, participate in public discourse through editorials and media interactions, and advocate for wide recognition of the issues identified by research efforts and for the comprehensive adoption of the standards for trustworthiness developed by affiliated researchers.
- Create a platform for interdisciplinary partnerships from within the Ashoka and outside, by facilitating collaborative projects, workshops, conferences and other activities.
- Train students to critically think about these issues so that they may become prepared to participate in and shape the digitalisation and AI application endeavours while being mindful of the ethical implications
